


Roots

by Jelaine_The_First



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: After the fight in Sacred Palace, Gen, Inspired by current Magi arc, M/M, My grammar is juvenile so please excuse, SinJu is only towards the end, Sinbad and Judal acted more like friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 16:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11189031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jelaine_The_First/pseuds/Jelaine_The_First
Summary: David defeated, Arba disappeared. Alibaba, Hakuryuu and Aladdin were heading towards the entrance to get away from the collapsing Sacred Palace before Judal turned around and shouted, "Stupid King, where are you?!"An imagination of how the author thought the story could go. Not canon at all, but these two characters could use some time alone.





	Roots

Sinbad didn’t know when he lost consciousness but when he woke up, he was lying beside Judal, who is currently sitting beside a small campfire. He looks around. It is pitch black; a horizontal ground and black sky. Sinbad shifts back to Judal. 

"Hey." 

Judal looks at him and replied, "'Sup." 

Sinbad gazes upon the black sky, thinking on his first question. Last he checked, he was in the Sacred Palace, where he fought Aladdin, Alibaba, Hakuryuu, Judal, and lastly, David. That is when his eyes snap open and-- 

"David is gone. So is Arba." 

As if Judal can read his mind, the Magi responds. Sinbad stares at him with eyes of disbelief. 

"Isn't David a God?" 

Judal sighed. "It's complicated things, you know. Aladdin used Solomon's Wisdom and Alibaba used that persuasion of his, and Hakuryuu was… well, being Hakuryuu. In the end, I worked with Aladdin to suck up David's magoi and his rukh went back to the cycle." 

The former Sindria king takes a while to let that information sinks in. 

"I might be bad at describing details so you can ask that from Hakuryuu after." That's when something comes upon Judal's mind, changing his expression slightly. "…That is if we can get out from wherever this is." 

Looking back at Judal, Sinbad was confused. "Where are we?" 

Judal shrugs. "Who knows? We might be at Uranus for all I know." 

"Uranus cannot contain life." 

"Who asked you, stupid king?" 

They are silent for a while. "Geez. There really is nothing out here, I could die of boredom," whines Judal. 

"I'll go look around to see if there's any life beside us," says Sinbad, eyes already settled on a direction. Before he could move, he was struck with realization that… 

He has no body. 

"Yeah, go ahead and fly away. In case you need a beacon, just sense my magoi. I won't move," says Judal, already given up. 

Sinbad, while still in shock, flies over to Judal. "Judal." 

Judal looks at him. "What?" 

"Where is my body?" 

"Oh, that." Judal shifted in his sit. "It's gone." 

A pregnant silence fills the air once again, and Sinbad awaits more answers from Judal, only to be disappointed by the fact that Judal is never good at explanation. Judal, however, gives in to Sinbad's stare. 

"Alright, _fine_. Your body was destroyed when David stole your position as God. But then you reemerge in spirit form." Judal messes up his already unruly hair. "Goddammit, for a ball of magoi, you sure are energetic." 

"You should know me by now." Sinbad snickers. Judal rolls his eyes. Before he takes off, Sinbad catches something strange. "What happened to your leg?" 

From his position, Judal's right leg sort of vanishes after the knee. The Magi doesn’t try to cover the injury, from the looks of it. He probably knows Sinbad will catch it right away. "You owe me a leg, stupid king." 

Sinbad flutters closer to his leg and browses it briefly. "Judal, tell me what happened." 

Judal seems to think for a second before answering, "After David was gone, Sacred Palace collapsed. The rest went through the gate but I feel like I could still bring your rukh back. It's scattered everywhere but it's there." 

"Why?" 

"I DON’T KNOW, DAMN IT!" Judal snaps. "As stupid of a king as you are, I can't seem to leave you behind! Especially not when I can save at least some of your rukh. That's when one of the pillars came crashing on my leg." He calms down little by little as the explanation goes on. "I must say, you are one tough dude to kill. How much magoi do you have anyway?" 

Sinbad feels that he owes Judal something; His gratitude. Judal always had hope for him, but he doesn’t think the same way of Judal. At this moment, he wants to feel of use to the Magi, least he can do is find a way out. 

With renewed vigor, Sinbad lifted himself up and flies towards the east, mindful of how far he's away from Judal's spot. He is surprised by the lack of wind resistance. Actually, there is none. He is thankful by it, for he would probably be blown away the first thing when he moved. 

Holy shit, Judal wasn't kidding. _There really is nothing here._

It wasn't even one hour, Sinbad's sure, and he is already tired of this darkness. His lifestyle before was so busy, he ended up thinking about doing work in his dreams. That, and his God-complex. 

"Done with your patrol?" mocks Judal as he sees Sinbad flying back to him. 

"Yeah. We need to come up with something to get back," urges Sinbad. 

"You still want to get back?" 

"What's wrong with it?" 

"No…." Judal puts his right palm on his face. "How do I say this… Ahhh, fuck it." He faces Sinbad with a cold stare. "The world doesn’t need more of your rule, stupid king." 

Even for a ball of magoi, anyone can see that Sinbad is shocked. His movement is so still, Judal has to poke him to make sure he's still there. He regains his composure shortly after. 

"What do you mean by that, Judal?" asks Sinbad, somewhat grim. 

"What I'm saying is, the world needs to grow on its own. You need to stop handling everything on your own." 

Sinbad scoffs. "The world needs someone to be the ruler, to determine how one's fate should be, what the rights and wron--" 

"--Yo, Sinbad! Chill!" Judal cocks up one brow while looking at Sinbad. "Don't get so worked up over a thing in the past, you magic ball." 

"How can I be? My life as a child has been dreadful, and even worse before I was born." The ball of magoi faces the black sky. "People say war is inevitable. When people's ideals became too big, they want to implore those on other community's faces." 

"So what you're saying is they have the same intention as you?" 

Sinbad looks sharply at Judal from the corner of his eyes, if he actually have eyes. "Whatever they are trying to do, they involve unnecessary bloodshed. My method requires no such sacrifices." 

"No blood spilled, but yours." Judal holds up a twig, examines it carefully before throwing it in the fire. "Funny how that sounds. You are selfish but also selfless at the same time." 

"What about you, Judal?" 

Judal's gaze quickly shifts to the ball of magoi. "What about me what?" 

"What do you do for this world?" 

Judal hums for a good second. "Doing my job as a fallen Magi, chose my king candidate, wander around and see the world…" He suddenly forms a grin. "…You know, traveling around like what you do before you marry your country." 

Sinbad wishes he could let that comment pass. He doesn't even deny it because the facts won't be at his side, but still... "I did **not** marry Sindria." 

"Yes, you did. She even takes after your name!" 

Sinbad stares at the Magi while Judal laughs at his own joke. 

"You know, if you think about it…" Judal continues. "Sindria is a prosperous country, but I think it can grow into something more." 

"Are you going to propose for it to conduct an act of military? Because I am going to say no." 

"No, stupid king. Listen." Judal scoots over to Sinbad. "If you look at it like this, the first Sindria is your wife, and the second Sindria is your son." 

Sinbad… is unsure on how to picture that in his mind. 

"You can show your son the way, but when he's big enough, he needs to go forward alone and experience the world." 

The ball of magoi sways restlessly, waiting for Judal to finish his sentence. 

"Basically, he himself needs to grow." 

"But that means he will experience all those death, suffering, anger and hopelessness? Like I did?" 

"He will need that to learn, stupid." Judal smacks Sinbad's head, but he's as good as slapping air. "How did _you_ grow up? You didn't know all those things right when you were born, did you?" 

Sinbad stays silent. 

_"When a baby named Sinbad was born in the lands of Parthevia, the sky turns seven colors, all ladies cry grateful tears while screami--"_

"--AHHHHH SHUT IT!" 

Judal's shoulder shakes as he laughs, and Sinbad can do no more than shake vigorously while glowing a mysterious pink. "Seriously, what were you thinking when you wrote that adventure of Sinbad, idiot?" says Judal, still laughing. Sinbad is starting to turn purple from the embarassment. 

"Just quit it, okay." 

"Psh, no fun." The Magi pouts a little. "You know, it's a good thing you're pocket-sized now. You don't have to go swinging swords when we talk." 

Sinbad turns serious. "You destroyed the first Sindria." 

"Correction: I _assisted_ Parthevia in destroying the first Sindria. It's all on them." Judal puts up his hands, trying to give a sign that _it wasn't him._

"My citizens died and I fell into depravity because I absorbed their black rukh." 

"Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know." Judal twirls around a stick while talking. "I was still a kid who doesn't know what's right and wrong, and believe me, growing in Al-Tharmen doesn't help shit." 

The two sit in silence, not too close that they can feel warmth but close enough to feel each other's presence. 

"How was it, growing in Al-Tharmen?" 

Judal only gives Sinbad an astonished face. "Woah, that's the first?" Sinbad doesn’t say anything in return, only stays afloat waiting for Judal's story. 

"Since we're already having this heart-to-heart talk, why not?" He shrugs his shoulders and continues. "Al-Tharmen is sick. The first man that I killed was this farmer who gave me peaches everyday. He didn't know our headquarters was a stone's throw away, since we're underground, and he kept bumping into me. That silly old man thought I'm just a harmless kid and handed me a peach a day." 

Sinbad already knew where this story is going, and he doesn’t like it one bit. 

"Ithnan's underling saw me getting this peach one day and they said, I must have no attachments to the world. I was still little so I don’t know what the hell were they talking about. One night, they brought in the farmer, trembling on his knees, begging for his life to be spared." 

Sinbad closes his eyes. He knows how this will end. 

"Ithnan asked for me to use my Thalg technique I just learned a few days ago. I was scared because last time I used it, I was nearly dead. The amount of magoi that ran through me was so much, my body can't take it. But he urged me to use it that night, saying I will get better at magic if I have a target." 

Judal paused for a while. "Turns out he was right. I just needed a target." 

If Sinbad has a face right now, his pained expression will probably show. He's never seen Judal's thinking side. "So the farmer…" 

"Dead. Strike right through him. I wasn't thinking at all. When everything ended, I saw his body limp on the floor, and it really…" For a second, Sinbad thought he heard a sob. "It really fucked me up." Judal's voice has never sounded so weak. 

"And how old were you that time?" 

"Beats me. I could be four years old, but you can never believe what those masked fucks told you anyway." 

Sinbad wants to know what Judal is feeling, but all he sees is Judal's stone cold expression, a face he wears when he's serious. "After that, I learned not to care. Whatever people do, it's probably because I'm a Magi." 

The former Sindria's king fixes his gaze on the fire. Judal's story is sad. Very sad indeed. It's a wonder how he could learn how to have fun from there. Sinbad feels afraid that if he were to be put in Judal's position… _he might have end up the same way too_. "I apologize. I have never thought about how you would feel living with them since an infant." 

"Don't apologize, for God's sake. I'm only falling into depravity because I started to enjoy killing people with one swipe. But honestly speaking, black rukh isn't that bad." 

When Judal could feel the magoi ball's stare on his shoulder, he continues. "People were so afraid to get black rukh, like it's a death sentence. But you yourself has seen your fair share of black rukh. How does it feel?" 

"Like concealing evil in your body." 

"Exactly, but surprise surprise! Everybody has a certain level of evilness in them! They just thought it wasn't the right thing to do." Judal leans back, supporting his body with his hands. "This world can't be all white or black. We need greys too. If life is so happy and stagnant, what's the fun in it?" 

"But people's life is no joke, Judal!" 

"I never said about killing them, you noisy ball." 

"Then?" 

"They need to strive to make a difference in the world. In other words, they need to move and act." 

"…And that can never be achieved when they are always under someone's rule that kept showing the way." 

" **Now** you're learning." Judal grins, satisfied. "You catch my train of thought. Congratulations!" 

The king only shakes his head. "Even if I do, I don't want to follow that train." 

"What, 'cuz that train involved killing people?" 

Sinbad gives him a silent yes. 

"Don't give me that look. If you see it this way, I'm doing them a favor." Judal's smug face shows up, and Sinbad can't say that he likes it. 

"In what way, pray tell, is that doing them a favor?" 

"You kept saying about this abnormality spreading in the world?" 

Sinbad nods. 

"What if they can't take it?" 

"You know that's the reason I went to the Sacred Palace." 

"What I'm trying to point is, the circle of rukh isn't a bad ending, dear king." Judal sighs. "Tell me honestly, what were you expecting when you died?" 

As a ball of magoi, Sinbad cannot interpret how he feels right now. All he thinks about is how much of the world he still didn't know, despite his age. Judal looks over his shoulder, to Sinbad, and saw how confused the little ball is and he can't help but give an amused smile at how cute Sinbad's size now. He lifts up his left palm. An image started flickering in a circle formed by white rukhs. 

"You see in here, people live with their beloved families and such, and everything's peach and rainbows and unicorns." The Magi turns towards Sinbad and asks, "Where do you think this is?" 

Sinbad gives a confused answer. "The world?" 

"No. That is the circle of rukh." 

Sinbad is taken aback with his answer. But when he reexamine the projection, he doesn’t see anything worldly, just the souls and their families and… rukh. 

"When people die, they return to this cycle, and meet up with the previous dead family members. In this state, you can no longer die or feel anything." The image disappears. "Dying isn't bad. Living isn't bad. What's bad is people's attitude." 

"What's bad is what you do," responds Sinbad venomously. 

"Hey, you can't blame me for having a fucked up childhood. 'Sides, I'm not into that anymore. Letting them live and see what they can do is more fun to me." 

Sinbad gives it a silent though. Judal doesn’t kill so much anymore after he came back from death, and he didn’t stir anymore trouble. In fact, he laid low at his hometown! The change in Judal made Sinbad think, maybe the world does need room to grow. 

"Hey, you want to go back still?" asks Judal. 

Sinbad, as a ball of magoi, realizes that he cannot do much and whether he wants it or not, he has to stick with Judal. "Yeah, but I'm in no hurry." 

"Whatchu gonna do when you get back?" 

"Go back to my 'son'." 

Judal gives Sinbad a good amount of stare, then he smiles. "Well, good for you." 

"How about you?" 

"What I'm gonna do?" 

"Mhm." 

Judal looks at the small fire crackling its last sparks. "Find Hakuryuu and go back to my hometown, I guess. Get free peaches." 

Sinbad, for the first time in his life, feels at ease. No Judal to cause troubles in Sindria, no government to think about, no fortune worth his attention. Only happiness and peaceful at his own cottage. _I need to stop thinking like an old man_ , he thought. 

"Hey, stupid king." 

Sinbad turns to Judal. 

"You saw the parallel worlds right?" 

He nods. 

"Did you see us as king and Magi?" 

Although sad at how the fate should have been, Sinbad gives Judal a nod he's waiting for. 

"That really sucks." Unlike his reply, Judal's fond smile suggests otherwise. 

_Maybe we could've been together._

**Omake**

As Sinbad insisted, Judal has no other choice but to start flying towards somewhere, _anywhere_ , so they are making progress. The Magi puts Sinbad's magoi in a Borg so it would be easier to handle. 

"So I must say, the name Judal must be pretty Arabic for someone who came from the Eastern part," says Sinbad. 

"Old man, you wanna eat dirt?" 

"Even if I want, you can't shove it into my nonexistent mouth." 

Judal gives that ball of magoi a long angered stare before replying, "shut up." 

"I realized you really can't do anything to me at this state," says Sinbad, smug. 

_This little ball of shit._

"Will you shut the fuck up after I tell you my birth name?" 

Sinbad gives Judal a yes, his ball of magoi jumping in excitement. 

"… Eu-meh." 

In his mind, Sinbad does agree with the name. Judal is _eu-meh_ indeed. 

"I will call you Eu-meh from now on." 

"Fuck off."

**Author's Note:**

> Eu-meh means especially beautiful. Very feminine for someone like Judal but it's normal for newborns to have female names, and JUST IMAGINE TINY JUDAL BABY OMG.
> 
> I chose Roots as a title because they need room to grow, and whether you want it or not, it's persistence in staying alive can be somewhat remarkable. It's an adequate metaphor for people, in my opinion. 
> 
> And also, my headcanon is Sinbad can speak more than 4 languages.


End file.
